Students protest school closings

Chicago high schoolers say they are sticking up for younger students

March 26, 2013|By Jennifer Delgado, Chicago Tribune reporter

Students, mostly from area high schools, marched from Chicago Public Schools headquarters to City Hall on Monday. The group, called Chicago Students Organizing to Save Our Schools, called on the mayor's office to reconsider its plan to shutter more than 50 public schools. (Nancy Stone, Chicago Tribune)

With his little sister's Englewood school slated to close, Brian Stirgus had a personal reason to participate in a march Monday protesting Chicago Public Schools' plan to shutter 53 elementary schools.

Stirgus said he fears his 12-year-old sister wouldn't be safe if students at her school, Banneker Elementary, are shifted to Mays Elementary next year.

"It's no secret that Englewood is one of the most notorious in the city for its violence," said Stirgus, a senior at Robeson High School. "Something different lies on every block.

Stirgus, 17, was among about 40 CPS students who marched with Chicago Students Organizing to Save Our Schools. In a letter to Mayor Rahm Emanuel written on an oversized piece of paper, the group demanded a moratorium on school closings.

Light snow flurries fell as the group chanted "Education is our right — we won't go without a fight" and walked along Clark Street from CPS headquarters to City Hall, escorted by several police officers.

Once inside City Hall, the group read their letter outside of Emanuel's office, prompting a representative of the mayor to meet the students and accept their letter. The group asked for a meeting with the mayor but did not get one.

CPS issued a statement reiterating its position that closing schools will improve educational opportunities for students. The district released a plan last week to close 54 elementary schools and one high school program to deal with underenrollment and a projected budget deficit of $1 billion.

CPS has to hold three meetings for each school it wants to close over the next two months before the school board votes on the school closing plan at the end of May.

Most members of the student group are in high school, although the district took high schools out of the equation as it studied school closings.

"I think it's our responsibility to stick up for these younger students and defend the schools we went to," said Israel Munoz, 18, a senior at Kelly High School in Chicago's Brighton Park neighborhood. "Not many people have taken the time to listen to students' perspectives."

The Chicago Teachers Union, which also wants a moratorium on closings, is planning a rally Wednesday at Daley Plaza.